The odd name comes from 1940's slang. It was common in the UK and amoung the allies to add the letter 'O' at the end of a word. Hence Combato and Defendo, both styles of fighting taught to service men and women before going over. There is sufficient evidence out there to see the evolution of these styles through the war, and how the techniques changed as men returned from the battlefield with "This is what worked" stories.

Similar things go on in each war, anyone see the recent US Army Combatives championships?

What soured me on Defendo was the initial ad I saw for it years ago. In the ad Bill Wolfe was standing contemptuosly with his arms folded and underneath it said "Alright now, let's cut the crap.....". The subtext of this is that everyone is teaching crap but he's now ridden in to save the day. It was just typical, pure, TRS style RBSD marketing BS. Maybe the stuff he teaches is good but the way it was/is presented screams hype.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Fairbairn snag most of his ideas from Cold Steel?

TKD

OK, you're wrong. Fairbairn began his jiu jitsu training in 1908, put out his first self defense manual in 1915, developed Defendu (published in 1926, re-published in 1931 as Scientific self defense)taught the Shanghai police, designed the knife that bears his name, retired from the Shanghai police force at age 55, then taught the British, Canadian and American troops during WWII, as well as publishing his books Shooting to live, All-in Fighting, Get Tough and Hands Off! all before Cold steel was published in 1951. John Styers knife training comes from Anthony-Drexel Biddle, who admits to a large Fairbairn influence in the 1944 edition of his book Do or Die.

NONE of which has anything to do with Modern Defendo, as there is no connection between what the Wolfe brothers do and anything from Fairbairn or Styers.

OK, you're wrong. Fairbairn began his jiu jitsu training in 1908, put out his first self defense manual in 1915, developed Defendu (published in 1926, re-published in 1931 as Scientific self defense)taught the Shanghai police, designed the knife that bears his name, retired from the Shanghai police force at age 55, then taught the British, Canadian and American troops during WWII, as well as publishing his books Shooting to live, All-in Fighting, Get Tough and Hands Off! all before Cold steel was published in 1951. John Styers knife training comes from Anthony-Drexel Biddle, who admits to a large Fairbairn influence in the 1944 edition of his book Do or Die.

NONE of which has anything to do with Modern Defendo, as there is no connection between what the Wolfe brothers do and anything from Fairbairn or Styers.

OK, you're wrong. Fairbairn began his jiu jitsu training in 1908, put out his first self defense manual in 1915, developed Defendu (published in 1926, re-published in 1931 as Scientific self defense)taught the Shanghai police, designed the knife that bears his name, retired from the Shanghai police force at age 55, then taught the British, Canadian and American troops during WWII, as well as publishing his books Shooting to live, All-in Fighting, Get Tough and Hands Off! all before Cold steel was published in 1951. John Styers knife training comes from Anthony-Drexel Biddle, who admits to a large Fairbairn influence in the 1944 edition of his book Do or Die.

NONE of which has anything to do with Modern Defendo, as there is no connection between what the Wolfe brothers do and anything from Fairbairn or Styers.

Defendu did not become Defendo, no matter how Wolfe tries to spin it.

If I remember right, the Fighting/Combative instructor from the movie "The Devil's Brigade" was based on Fairbairn.

NONE of which has anything to do with Modern Defendo, as there is no connection between what the Wolfe brothers do and anything from Fairbairn or Styers.

Defendu did not become Defendo, no matter how Wolfe tries to spin it.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was even operating a Hapkido school back in the 1990s, and I've heard what they teach now is actually okay, but is essentially a mix of kickboxing, submission wrestling and some trad. jujitsu style 'self-defense' techniques. Alll the 'Defendo' hype is pretty clearly a McDojo marketing gimmick, even if their training itself is supposed to be allright.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was even operating a Hapkido school back in the 1990s, and I've heard what they teach now is actually okay, but is essentially a mix of kickboxing, submission wrestling and some trad. jujitsu style 'self-defense' techniques. Alll the 'Defendo' hype is pretty clearly a McDojo marketing gimmick, even if their training itself is supposed to be allright.